In about 200 B.C.E, many of the classical societies were facing decline at the hands of disease, political turmoil, and military threats. The only empire who managed to survive was located in the Eastern Mediterranean. This Eastern Roman empire was known as Byzantion, which eventually became latinized and turned into Byzantium. It survived for almost a thousand years after the collapse of the Roman empire in 500 C.E. During the seventh century C.E. most of the lands to the east and south of the Mediterranean were controlled by Islamic States. Despite it's smaller size in relation to the Roman empire, the Byzantine empire had a booming economic and agricultural society. Up until the twelfth century, the wealthy Mediterranean Basin was controlled by Byzantine authorities. The goods produced in the Eastern Mediterranean eventually spread to India and had a reputation for being very high in quality. In addition to trading with India, the Mediterranean Basin also had a great deal to do with the beginnings of the Slavic peoples by sending diplomats and missionaries from Byzantium brought writing, Christianity, codified law, and sophisticated political organization. Historians call the spread of these ideas the "Byzantine Commonwealth". Because of their close proximity to the Sea, the Byzantine Empire brought trade and ideas to many areas around the Mediterranean.
The Early Byzantine Empire
Byzantium started out as a small town and fishing village the happenned to be positioned in an area of huge strategic significance. It was on a defensible peninsula and happenned to have a natural harbor called the Golden Horn. It also had the potential to control the strait of Bosprus which would have lead from the Black Sea to the Agean. The Roman Emperor Constantine took the area and named it Constantinople or "the City of Constantine". Roman government moved to Constantinople in 340 C.E. which caused the new Capital to become a bustling metropolis in very little time. In the late fourth century C.E. it was the most influential political center in Eastern Rome. The city was called Constantinople up until 1453 C.E. when the Turks claimed it and renamed the town Istanbul. The Later Roman Empire and Byzantium The early Byzantine Empire held Greece, the Balkan region, Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Northeast Africa. Occassionaly, the boundaries would extend for a brief period of time before being taken back by the neighboring peoples. Some of the Southern regions of the empire were taken over by Arab Muslim conquerers, but the Byzantine empire was still a strong one until the thirteenth century C.E. In about the fifth century C.E, the western half of Rome crumbled and fell to invaders. However, the Eastern half still managed to remain completely intact with roads, communication lines, and a set of functioning imperial institutions which all remained from the early Romans. The first main challenges of the Byzantine empire were very different from those of their Roman predecessors. One of the main problems was the constant threat of invasion from the Sesanid empire in Persia and other areas to the south. If an army came from the south, the Byzantines wouldn't have the necessary resources to stop an attack at all fronts. Once they secured land against the Sesanids however, the Byzantines began to have a government that was very distinct in the sense that they made the emperor absolutely pampered with his own palace, libraries, museums, and artistic treasures. However, because Christianity was prominent in Byzantine society, the emperor could not claim to be a divine presence. To solve this dilemma, Constantine began a policy known as "Caesaropapism" which meant that the emperor ruled the land, but also played a large role in affairs regarding God. According to the Bizantine law, the emperor was to be above the law and did not have to follow the law's precise instructions. In addition to an emperor, Byzantium also had a large and complex bureaucracy. This gave rise to the adjective byzantine, which suggests unnecessary complexity and convolution. During their court sessions, the emperor only wore the finest silk robes which were dyed a deep rich purple. If anyone needed to address him, they had to kiss his hands and feet before speaking. By the tenth century, engineers figured out how to make mehanical devices which made dazzling effects and made impressions upon foreign envoys. Justinian and His Legacy One of the most important and prominent of the Byzantine rulers was Justinian who ruled from 527 to 565 C.E. He was very energetic and lively, thus he was called "the sleepless emperor" by his subjects. Justinian went on to become a very influential leader partly because of his wife, Theodora. Despite the fact he was born into a peasant family, Justinian still managed to become the leader of the empire. Theodora was born as a daughter of a bear keeper at the circus, and actually worked as a stripper before meeting the emperor. Though it started from humble beginnings, the legacy of Justinian soon became one of the most famous of the Byzantine region. Just as Constantine enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle, Justinian enjoyed many of the same resources in the capital of Constantinople. In the early years of his rule, there were many riots because of his high taxes. Theodora urged him to quash the riots with the imperial army, which destroyed much of the city. To help boost morale, Justinian started a huge constructiLiuon program, including building the huge church of Hagia Sophia. people from all over the region came to marvel at the domed ceiling of the church. It eventually got the reputation of a place of healing, and was thought to cure many illnesses. One of the most important things Justinian did during his rule was make a code of law similar to Hammurabi. He named this code "Corpus Iuris Civilis" or "Body of the Civil Law". Immediately the code became Justinia
Looks like a building out of star wars.
n's claim to fame. It united the people, and helped to bring peace to the empire. Later emperors adding to the code with new provisions, but the original code continued to serve as a source of legal inspiration. Perhaps the greatest ambition of Justinian was to reclaim the lost Western half of the region and unite the Mediterranean once more. In 533, he deployed the brilliant general Belisarius with an army towards the west. He eventually reclaimed Italy, Sicily, northwestern Africa, and southern Spain to imperial hands. By the end of Justinian's career, he had reconstructed much of the former empire of Rome. However, there seemed to be too much of Rome, and Byzantium couldn't hold that much land in place. Eventually, the Western branch of his empire fell, and Justinian's rule was ended in 565 C.E. (H.M)
Islamic Conquesta and Byzantine Revival (pgs. 322-328 S.N.) After the emergence of Islam and the development of a powerful and expansive Islamic state, this new region made up of Islam supporters posed a serious threat to Byzantium. The Arab peoples conquered the Sasanid empire and then overran large parts of the Byzantine empire as well. At this time several regions had fallen under Islamic rule including Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa. In the late seventh and early eighth centuries, Arab forces subjected the heart of the Byzantine empire, Constantinople, and started a siege on the capital city. If not for the militarly technology, such as "Greek Fire", Constantinople would've fallen. This highly destructive weapon was composed of sulphur, lime, and petroleum and was launched at both ground fleets and at wooden boats on the water. This may be credited with retaining Anatoli, Greece, and the Balkan region from the foreign Islamic invaders. After these invaders reduced most of the empire, it was much easier to manage then the far flung realm of Justinian. The rulers responded to the challenge of Islam by conducting political and social changes then strengthened the empire. The most important change was that which created the theme system. This system placed an imperial province under the jurisdiction of a general, who assumed responsibility for both its defense and civil administration. The generals recruited armies from the ranks of free peasants who recieved areas of land in exchange for military service. The theme system strengthened the class of free peasants enabled military forces to mobilize quickly and resist further Islamic advances. During the reign of Basil, or "Basil the Bulgar slayer," the Byzantine forces reconquered much of its lost land in Syria. One report after a victory stated that Basil had fourteen thousand Bulgarian survivors blinded, some in one eye to lead the others home. During this time, the expansion brought in so much wealth that Basil was able to waive the collection of taxes for two whole years. (S.N.)
Byzantium and Western Europe As the byzantines warred with the Arab Muslim and pagan Slavic neighbors, they experienced tense relations, in forms of politics, with their Christian counterparts located in the west Mediterranean region. The Constantinoplian Christian church used Greek, while the Christian church in Rome conducted its affairs in Latin. Ecclesiastical authorities in Byzantium, thought the Roman Christians were poorly educated, and the church leaders in Rome considered their counterparts subtle and learned, but insincere. A politcal conflict also strained the two sides relations causing Germanic invasions in land that Byzantine emperors claimed as their rightful inheritance. The relations between the west and east are cleary portrayed when an ambassador named Liudprand of Cremona, was sent on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople. Liudprand described the current Byzantine ruler as, "a montrosity of a man, a dwarf, a fat headed and with tiny neck scarcely an inch long; piglike by reason of the big close bristles on his head." Liudprand then described Constantinople as shabb, sleazy, and pretentious even after having the reputation of once being prosperous and illustrious. After looking at these attitudes, it's easy to see why the two sides had strained relations until the Byzantine empire fell. (S.N.) Byzantine Economy and Society Byzantium dominated eastern Mediterranean political and military affairs because of its strong economy. The economic and social assets of eastern Mediterranean did not vanish with the classical Roman emire, but instead, they both continued to provide abundant agricultural surpluses and support large numbers of craft workers. These two areas helped make Byzantine an economic powerhouse. (S.N.)
Rural Economy and Society Egypt was once the main source of grain for Byzantium until it fell to the conquest of Arab forces. Afterwards, Anatolia and the lower region of the Danube river served as the main provider of grain. This wheat helped propel population growth in Constantinople and other surrounding areas. This city contained over one million people, and this population's support was made possible because of reliable and productive agricultural economy. The economy and society were strongest when the empire supported a large class of free peasants who owned small plots of land. The free peasants cultivated the land intensively looking for their future families' fortune, and served as the supporting group of the military system. In the Byzantine empire, wealthy individuals sought to accumulate land, ran large estates, and supervised the non-slave peasants. These peasants that worked the estates, weren't entirely free however, and were bound to the land, only leaving with permission of their lords. Sometimes the peasants worked for a large portion of the yield of crops, but rarely accumulated enough wealth to gain inependence. The invasions made by Arab Islams broke up many large estates, and mad the peasants capable to rebuild small holding. The government during these times limited the accumulation of land by wealthy classes, strengthing the peasantry. By the thirteenth century however, peasants accounted for only a small portion of the rural population. Concentration of land and rural resources worked against the financial insterests of the central government, and it caused political, military, and economic difficulties for the Byzantine state during the final three hundred years of existence. (S.N.)
Industry and Trade In spite of social and economic problems, Byzantium remained a wealthy land. Constantinople was already a major site of crafts and industry in classical times, and it became even more important as capital of the Byzantine empire. It was home to many artisans and craft workers, thousands of imperial officers and bureaucrats. The craftsmen had a reputation for glassware, linen, and woolen textiles, gems, jewelry, and fine work in gold and silver. After the arrival of silk worms, the craftsmen also gained a great reputation for high quality silk. It was so important, the goverment watched every part of its production and sale. They allowed the individual to only participate in one step of making the silk to prevent monopolization. Constantinople was known as the clearing house of trade where the Bezant was the major currency of the Mediterranean basin. Byzantium served as the western anchor of a Eurasian trading network that revived the spices from India and southeast Asia. Byzantium imported many items from countries like Persia, parts of western Europe, Russia, and the Scandanavian region. In the Byzantine empire, banks and partnerships supported most of the commercial activity. All these factors led this region to become the economic powerhouse it once was. (S.N.)
Urban life
Constantinople had no conflict with other Byzantine cities, as it was often referred to as just "The City". Constantinople had a palace in the center of it which employed twenty thousand citizens as palace staff. Aristocrats often lived lavish lives in palaces. Women, on the other hand, lived in apartments and didn't take part in festivities. Especially ones that included alcohol. As for the less privileged classes, life was not as lavish. They often lived on a second level of their business place or if a business place wasn't owned, they would live in apartments. Even the poor would have attractions to see. Constantinople had many sites to relax and have a hygienic bath. Also taverns and theaters were common. Lots of entertainment took place in the Hippodrome, which was a huge stadium that hosted athletic events and things like contests between animals. This is where some of the first official "teams" took place: the Greens and the Blues. The two teams took rivalry towards one another and supported different sides of events like chariot races. The G's and B's often fought outside of the stadium, but in one case, the two united to fight high taxes. This idea was spread because of Justinian. The two teams united and formed riots, leaving Constantinople in shambles.
Classical Heritage and Orthodow Christianity
Byantine Christianity developed on lines very differnent from early Roman Christianity, just as did the Byzantine state. Much of the differences were based on doctrines, ritual, and church authority. By the mid-eleventh century, marked the formal split of the two groups, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic. (L.K.)
The legacy of Classical Greece The official language of the Empire changed from latin, language of Rome, to greek, the language of many in the area, by the sixth century. Education in Byzantine included many ties to that of classical Greece. Most everyone, even peasants, went to a primary school, to get basic knowledge on multiple subjects. Because of this, most of the empire were literate and intelligent individuals. There was one school of higher learning in Constantinople that provide advanced instrution on topics like law, medicine, and philosophy. This school existed for more than 1000 after is founding in 425 C.E..
The Byzantine ChurchThe Imperial Government of the empire was was close with the Church. Emperors busied themselves with religious and theological mattes. The council of Nicaea was created by Constantine in 325 C.E., which brought together bishops, spokemen, and leaders from all of the top churches in the Empire. The Orthodox Church became the favored of Constantine over the Arian belief which was then called heresay. The Arians believed that Jesus had been a mortal being and that he was a creation of God rather than another form of God. Byzantine rulers treated the church as a department of state, electing individual for specific jobs. One of the most eccentric policies put for by an emperor, was that of iconoclasm. It literally means, the breaking of icons. This included destroying religous icons and prohibiting their use in the churches.
Monasticism and Popular PietyMany devout individuals who tried to lead excepcially holy lives took inspiration from early christian ascetics. These people observed regimes of extreme asceticism and self denial. Some even spent days ontop of pilars, thus earning the name of Pillar Saint. Monasticism spread as one ruler urged groups of people devoted to following their Pillar Saint to give up personal possessions and live in communal societies. Monks and nuns soon obeyed the rule of elected superiors and focused on their jobs of work and prayer. One prominant monastary was that on Mt. Athos, a peninsula in N Greece.
Tensions Between Eastern and Western Christianity Strains between the two groups, one in Constantinople and the other based in Rome, mirrored that of the political strains of the two. Iconoclasm was one source of extreme strain between the cities and their beliefs. Strife was also brought about by disagreements of the forms of worship and precise wording of theological teachings. Another source of tension was the question of where the main power lay. Whether it was with the patriachs of the east and the Popes of Rome. The resulting disagreement led to the split that in 1054 the east was Eastern Orthodox and the west was Roman Catholic.
The Influence of Byzantium in Eastern Europe The Byzantines called themselves Romaioi(Romans) but about 1000 Byzantium differed greatly from the society of classical times. By the late eleventh century, the Byzantine Empire suffered decline at the hands of increased pressure of the Islamic Empire.
Domestic problems and foreign Pressures Many domestic problems were a result of the success of the Theme system. Generals and influencial aristocrats intermarried, creating an elite class who wielded immense power in military, politics and social/economics. This put strains on the free peasants, who were the backbone of the empire. From the east of the empire came at least four large crusades from the Norman people of Scandinavia. This plus the attacks from the east, dealt mainly by the Saljuqs and other Muslim groups resulted in the large decline of the Empire and eventually the total collapse in 1453.
Early Relations between Byzantium and Slavic Peoples. When Byzantium resources were set towards Western Mediterranean, Slavic people from the north took advantage of the situation the settle in the Balkan peninsula. Tensions grew until the eighth century when Byzantium power began to influence the Bulgarian people. Byzantiums started to send missionaries to the slavs to spread Eastern Orthodox beliefs. Two prominent missionaries were Cyril and Methodius. During the mid Ninth century, they went on many mission trips into Bulgaria and Moravia. They even devised the Slavic language based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
Byzantium and Russia By the mid ninth century, Russians created large principalities governed by trade centers like Kiev. Stratigically placed on the Dnieper River, Kiev soon became a wealthy and powerful center of trade. About 989 Prince Vladimir of Kiev converted to Orthodox Christianity and ordered his followers to do the same. The princes of Kiev established a firm control over the Russian Orthodox Church, and by the early twelfth century it had more than 600 individual churches. Russians eventually claimed that their moscow was actually the world's third Rome. Inspired by this the Russians sent out missionaries throughout the surrounding areas, and traveled as far as California. (L.K.)
5 Themes (sorry for the redundancy)
Human/Environment Interaction Despite the economic issues of Byzantine, they used what they had. The Byzantines had success with the making of silk. Being known as a place to get some high quality silk, they sold it expensively to all close by nations (South Eastern Asia and some parts of Europe) to places like Scandanavia. Being a nation by the sea also helped with the shipping of goods.
Development and Interaction of Cultures As explained above, the Byzantines were a Christian based society. They sent people like Methodius to evangelize to the Slavic peoples, even devising a Slavic alphabet. Some disputes have come about having to do with who Jesus was. Some believe that he was God while some believed that he was a being made from God. Disputes like this lead to the splitting of the two, being the Orthodox Christians and the Roman Catholics.
State Building, Expansion, and Conflict The Byzantine state was built around the city of Constantinople. Beginning as just a small fishing village, The Byzantines expanded out to Egypt, Balkan Regions, Anatolia, and Palestine, and that was just the early expansions. The Byzantines had many conflicts with the Muslim peoples as well as the Sesanids. Eventually, the West half of Byzantine fell to pieces, but luckily, the east half of it stayed steady from attacks. The Byzantines built the state close to their enemies to keep a close eye on them.
Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems As stated oh so many times in this Wiki page, Constantinople was the basis to the economy. Constantinople was the bee's knees when it came to wheat. Due to being placed by the Danube, the sales of wheat helped give Constantinople the hefty population of one million. The Economy was in it's best condition when peasants could own small plots of land in the Theme system.
Development and Transformation of Social Structures As social classes went, they had the high classes, middle, and low. The high class people (Royalty, Aristocrats) would live in lavish palaces with extended families. With a big gap in between the high and middle classes, the poor would live less easy lives. They would live in shops or stacked apartment complexes. The lowest classes were they slaves.
Logan Kinney
Hunter Maude
Griffin Day
Sean Nordgren
Eastern Roman Empire (Ch 13)
The Commonwealth of Byzantium (pgs. 317-322 H.M)
The Early Byzantine Empire
Byzantium started out as a small town and fishing village the happenned to be positioned in an area of huge strategic significance. It was on a defensible peninsula and happenned to have a natural harbor called the Golden Horn. It also had the potential to control the strait of Bosprus which would have lead from the Black Sea to the Agean. The Roman Emperor Constantine took the area and named it Constantinople or "the City of Constantine". Roman government moved to Constantinople in 340 C.E. which caused the new Capital to become a bustling metropolis in very little time. In the late fourth century C.E. it was the most influential political center in Eastern Rome. The city was called Constantinople up until 1453 C.E. when the Turks claimed it and renamed the town Istanbul.The Later Roman Empire and Byzantium
The early Byzantine Empire held Greece, the Balkan region, Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Northeast Africa. Occassionaly, the boundaries would extend for a brief period of time before being taken back by the neighboring peoples. Some of the Southern regions of the empire were taken over by Arab Muslim conquerers, but the Byzantine empire was still a strong one until the thirteenth century C.E. In about the fifth century C.E, the western half of Rome crumbled and fell to invaders. However, the Eastern half still managed to remain completely intact with roads, communication lines, and a set of functioning imperial institutions which all remained from the early Romans. The first main challenges of the Byzantine empire were very different from those of their Roman predecessors. One of the main problems was the constant threat of invasion from the Sesanid empire in Persia and other areas to the south. If an army came from the south, the Byzantines wouldn't have the necessary resources to stop an attack at all fronts. Once they secured land against the Sesanids however, the Byzantines began to have a government that was very distinct in the sense that they made the emperor absolutely pampered with his own palace, libraries, museums, and artistic treasures. However, because Christianity was prominent in Byzantine society, the emperor could not claim to be a divine presence. To solve this dilemma, Constantine began a policy known as "Caesaropapism" which meant that the emperor ruled the land, but also played a large role in affairs regarding God. According to the Bizantine law, the emperor was to be above the law and did not have to follow the law's precise instructions. In addition to an emperor, Byzantium also had a large and complex bureaucracy. This gave rise to the adjective byzantine, which suggests unnecessary complexity and convolution. During their court sessions, the emperor only wore the finest silk robes which were dyed a deep rich purple. If anyone needed to address him, they had to kiss his hands and feet before speaking. By the tenth century, engineers figured out how to make mehanical devices which made dazzling effects and made impressions upon foreign envoys.
Justinian and His Legacy
One of the most important and prominent of the Byzantine rulers was Justinian who ruled from 527 to 565 C.E. He was very energetic and lively, thus he was called "the sleepless emperor" by his subjects. Justinian went on to become a very influential leader partly because of his wife, Theodora. Despite the fact he was born into a peasant family, Justinian still managed to become the leader of the empire. Theodora was born as a daughter of a bear keeper at the circus, and actually worked as a stripper before meeting the emperor. Though it started from humble beginnings, the legacy of Justinian soon became one of the most famous of the Byzantine region. Just as Constantine enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle, Justinian enjoyed many of the same resources in the capital of Constantinople. In the early years of his rule, there were many riots because of his high taxes. Theodora urged him to quash the riots with the imperial army, which destroyed much of the city. To help boost morale, Justinian started a huge constructiLiuon program, including building the huge church
Islamic Conquesta and Byzantine Revival (pgs. 322-328 S.N.)
After the emergence of Islam and the development of a powerful and expansive Islamic state, this new region made up of Islam supporters posed a serious threat to Byzantium. The Arab peoples conquered the Sasanid empire and then overran large parts of the Byzantine empire as well. At this time several regions had fallen under Islamic rule including Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa. In the late seventh and early eighth centuries, Arab forces subjected the heart of the Byzantine empire, Constantinople, and started a siege on the capital city. If not for the militarly technology, such as "Greek Fire", Constantinople would've fallen. This highly destructive weapon was composed of sulphur, lime, and petroleum and was launched at both
Byzantium and Western Europe
As the byzantines warred with the Arab Muslim and pagan Slavic neighbors, they experienced tense relations, in forms of politics, with their Christian counterparts located in the west Mediterranean region. The Constantinoplian Christian church used Greek, while the Christian church in Rome conducted its affairs in Latin. Ecclesiastical authorities in Byzantium, thought the Roman Christians were poorly educated, and the church leaders in Rome considered their counterparts subtle and learned, but insincere. A politcal conflict also strained the two sides relations causing Germanic invasions in land that Byzantine emperors claimed as their rightful inheritance. The relations between the west and east are cleary portrayed when an ambassador named Liudprand of Cremona, was sent on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople. Liudprand described the current Byzantine ruler as, "a montrosity of a man, a dwarf, a fat headed and with tiny neck scarcely an inch long; piglike by reason of the big close bristles on his head." Liudprand then described Constantinople as shabb, sleazy, and pretentious even after having the reputation of once being prosperous and illustrious. After looking at these attitudes, it's easy to see why the two sides had strained relations until the Byzantine empire fell. (S.N.)
Byzantine Economy and Society
Byzantium dominated eastern Mediterranean political and military affairs because of its strong economy. The economic and social assets of eastern Mediterranean did not vanish with the classical Roman emire, but instead, they both continued to provide abundant agricultural surpluses and support large numbers of craft workers. These two areas helped make Byzantine an economic powerhouse. (S.N.)
Rural Economy and Society
Egypt was once the main source of grain for Byzantium until it fell to the conquest of Arab forces. Afterwards, Anatolia and the lower region of the Danube river served as the main provider of grain. This wheat helped propel population growth in Constantinople and other surrounding areas. This city contained over one million people, and this population's support was made possible because of reliable and productive agricultural economy. The economy and society were strongest when the empire supported a large class of free peasants who owned small plots of land. The free peasants cultivated the land intensively looking for their future families' fortune, and served as the supporting group of the military system. In the Byzantine empire, wealthy individuals sought to accumulate land, ran large estates, and supervised the non-slave peasants. These peasants that worked the estates, weren't entirely free however, and were bound to the land, only leaving with permission of their lords. Sometimes the peasants worked for a large portion of the yield of crops, but rarely accumulated enough wealth to gain inependence. The invasions made by Arab Islams broke up many large estates, and mad the peasants capable to rebuild small holding. The government during these times limited the accumulation of land by wealthy classes, strengthing the peasantry. By the thirteenth century however, peasants accounted for only a small portion of the rural population. Concentration of land and rural resources worked against the financial insterests of the central government, and it caused political, military, and economic difficulties for the Byzantine state during the final three hundred years of existence. (S.N.)
Industry and Trade
In spite of social and economic problems, Byzantium remained a wealthy land. Constantinople was already a major site of crafts and industry in classical times, and it became even more important as capital of the Byzantine empire. It was home to many artisans and craft workers, thousands of imperial officers and bureaucrats. The craftsmen had a reputation for glassware, linen, and woolen textiles, gems, jewelry, and fine work in gold and silver. After the arrival of silk worms, the craftsmen also gained a great reputation for high quality silk. It was so important, the goverment watched every part of its production and sale. They allowed the individual to only participate in one step of making
Urban life
Constantinople had no conflict with other Byzantine cities, as it was often referred to as just "The City". Constantinople had a palace in the center of it which employed twenty thousand citizens as palace staff. Aristocrats often lived lavish lives in palaces. Women, on the other hand, lived in apartments and didn't take part in festivities. Especially ones that included alcohol. As for the less privileged classes, life was not as lavish. They often lived on a second level of their business place or if a business place wasn't owned, they would live in apartments. Even the poor would have attractions to see. Constantinople had many sites to relax and have a hygienic bath. Also taverns and theaters were common. Lots of entertainment took place in the Hippodrome, which was a huge stadium that hosted athletic events and things like contests between animals. This is where some of the first official "teams" took place: the Greens and the Blues. The two teams took rivalry towards one another and supported different sides of events like chariot races. The G's and B's often fought outside of the stadium, but in one case, the two united to fight high taxes. This idea was spread because of Justinian. The two teams united and formed riots, leaving Constantinople in shambles.
Classical Heritage and Orthodow Christianity
Byantine Christianity developed on lines very differnent from early Roman Christianity, just as did the Byzantine state. Much of the differences were based on doctrines, ritual, and church authority. By the mid-eleventh century, marked the formal split of the two groups, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic. (L.K.)The legacy of Classical Greece
The official language of the Empire changed from latin, language of Rome, to greek, the language of many in the area, by the sixth century. Education in Byzantine included many ties to that of classical Greece. Most everyone, even peasants, went to a primary school, to get basic knowledge on multiple subjects. Because of this, most of the empire were literate and intelligent individuals. There was one school of higher learning in Constantinople that provide advanced instrution on topics like law, medicine, and philosophy. This school existed for more than 1000 after is founding in 425 C.E..
The Byzantine ChurchThe Imperial Government of the empire was was close with the Church. Emperors busied themselves with religious and theological mattes. The council of Nicaea was created by Constantine in 325 C.E., which brought together bishops, spokemen, and leaders from all of the top churches in the Empire. The Orthodox Church became the favored of Constantine over the Arian belief which was then called heresay. The Arians believed that Jesus had been a mortal being and that he was a creation of God rather than another form of God. Byzantine rulers treated the church as a department of state, electing individual for specific jobs. One of the most eccentric policies put for by an emperor, was that of iconoclasm. It literally means, the breaking of icons. This included destroying religous icons and prohibiting their use in the churches.
Monasticism and Popular PietyMany devout individuals who tried to lead excepcially holy lives took inspiration from early christian ascetics. These people observed regimes of extreme asceticism and self denial. Some even spent days ontop of pilars, thus earning the name of Pillar Saint. Monasticism spread as one ruler urged groups of people devoted to following their Pillar Saint to give up personal possessions and live in communal societies. Monks and nuns soon obeyed the rule of elected superiors and focused on their jobs of work and prayer. One prominant monastary was that on Mt. Athos, a peninsula in N Greece.
Tensions Between Eastern and Western Christianity Strains between the two groups, one in Constantinople and the other based in Rome, mirrored that of the political strains of the two. Iconoclasm was one source of extreme strain between the cities and their beliefs. Strife was also brought about by disagreements of the forms of worship and precise wording of theological teachings. Another source of tension was the question of where the main power lay. Whether it was with the patriachs of the east and the Popes of Rome. The resulting disagreement led to the split that in 1054 the east was Eastern Orthodox and the west was Roman Catholic.
The Influence of Byzantium in Eastern Europe The Byzantines called themselves Romaioi(Romans) but about 1000 Byzantium differed greatly from the society of classical times. By the late eleventh century, the Byzantine Empire suffered decline at the hands of increased pressure of the Islamic Empire.
Domestic problems and foreign Pressures Many domestic problems were a result of the success of the Theme system. Generals and influencial aristocrats intermarried, creating an elite class who wielded immense power in military, politics and social/economics. This put strains on the free peasants, who were the backbone of the empire. From the east of the empire came at least four large crusades from the Norman people of Scandinavia. This plus the attacks from the east, dealt mainly by the Saljuqs and other Muslim groups resulted in the large decline of the Empire and eventually the total collapse in 1453.
Early Relations between Byzantium and Slavic Peoples. When Byzantium resources were set towards Western Mediterranean, Slavic people from the north took advantage of the situation the settle in the Balkan peninsula. Tensions grew until the eighth century when Byzantium power began to influence the Bulgarian people. Byzantiums started to send missionaries to the slavs to spread Eastern Orthodox beliefs. Two prominent missionaries were Cyril and Methodius. During the mid Ninth century, they went on many mission trips into Bulgaria and Moravia. They even devised the Slavic language based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
Byzantium and Russia By the mid ninth century, Russians created large principalities governed by trade centers like Kiev. Stratigically placed on the Dnieper River, Kiev soon became a wealthy and powerful center of trade. About 989 Prince Vladimir of Kiev converted to Orthodox Christianity and ordered his followers to do the same. The princes of Kiev established a firm control over the Russian Orthodox Church, and by the early twelfth century it had more than 600 individual churches. Russians eventually claimed that their moscow was actually the world's third Rome. Inspired by this the Russians sent out missionaries throughout the surrounding areas, and traveled as far as California. (L.K.)
5 Themes (sorry for the redundancy)
Human/Environment Interaction
Despite the economic issues of Byzantine, they used what they had. The Byzantines had success with the making of silk. Being known as a place to get some high quality silk, they sold it expensively to all close by nations (South Eastern Asia and some parts of Europe) to places like Scandanavia. Being a nation by the sea also helped with the shipping of goods.
Development and Interaction of Cultures
As explained above, the Byzantines were a Christian based society. They sent people like Methodius to evangelize to the Slavic peoples, even devising a Slavic alphabet. Some disputes have come about having to do with who Jesus was. Some believe that he was God while some believed that he was a being made from God. Disputes like this lead to the splitting of the two, being the Orthodox Christians and the Roman Catholics.
State Building, Expansion, and Conflict
The Byzantine state was built around the city of Constantinople. Beginning as just a small fishing village, The Byzantines expanded out to Egypt, Balkan Regions, Anatolia, and Palestine, and that was just the early expansions. The Byzantines had many conflicts with the Muslim peoples as well as the Sesanids. Eventually, the West half of Byzantine fell to pieces, but luckily, the east half of it stayed steady from attacks. The Byzantines built the state close to their enemies to keep a close eye on them.
Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems
As stated oh so many times in this Wiki page, Constantinople was the basis to the economy. Constantinople was the bee's knees when it came to wheat. Due to being placed by the Danube, the sales of wheat helped give Constantinople the hefty population of one million. The Economy was in it's best condition when peasants could own small plots of land in the Theme system.
Development and Transformation of Social Structures
As social classes went, they had the high classes, middle, and low. The high class people (Royalty, Aristocrats) would live in lavish palaces with extended families. With a big gap in between the high and middle classes, the poor would live less easy lives. They would live in shops or stacked apartment complexes. The lowest classes were they slaves.
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Hunter Maude
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